Used tyres on dodgy ground – 3 out of 4 fail safety tests

Three out of four second-hand tyres inspected by trading standards FAILED road safety tests. The warning came after London Trading Standards (LTS) teams visited 150 businesses as part of a tyre safety project.

Stuart Jackson, TyreSafe chairman, said: "Our investigations with Trading Standards across the country universally reveal an appallingly high level of illegal practises among retailers of part worn tyres.

"That's of grave concern as tyres are a safety critical product – if they're not in roadworthy condition, a vehicle's brakes and steering are compromised.

"Londoners should be concerned that three-quarters of tyres in this investigation failed to meet legal safety standards – TyreSafe's advice is always buy new whenever possible."

Trading standards play an important role in product safety, and have 'exclusive powers' to remove unsafe products from the market.